Honors English 10 - Poetry Test Terms

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Prosody

Prosody

The study of meter, rhyme, and the sound and pattern of words (basically what the english people say when they want to refer to meter, rhyme, stanza, etc.).

Meter

The rhythm established by the regular or almost regular patterns of sound (ex. iambic pentameter, iambic hexameter, etc.).

Foot

The unit of rhythm in a line of verse (the poetic version of a measure in music).

Rhyme

Similarity of sounds between syllables in corresponding positions in two or more lines of verse (examples of this are internal/end rhyme - flashcards on that later).

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme that occurs in the middle of the line. Can either refer to words rhyming with each other in the same line, or words that are not at the end of the line that are rhyming with other words in other lines.

End Rhyme

The words at the end of the line rhyme with the words at the end of another line.

Rhyme Scheme

The pattern or sequence in which the rhyming sounds occur in a stanza or a poem (ex. aabb, ccdd).

Scan

The act of analyzing poetic rhyme and rhythm using standard identification marks.

Stanza

A recurring group of two or more lines (in terms of length, metrical form, rhyme scheme, etc.).

Couplet

Two lines of verse with similar end rhyme schemes.

Triplet

Three lines of verse with the same rhyme.

Quatrain

A stanza of four lines (rhyme scheme can vary here).

Refrain

A phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at intervals (kinda like the chorus in a song).

Alliteration

The repetition of beginning letters or sounds (ex. six slender saplings).

Assonance

Repetition of similar vowel sounds (lake, fake, take, make).

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds, similar to alliteration, but the consonance can be anywhere in the words, not just the start (it helps to read the lines out loud to find the consonance).

Inversion

The reversal of the normally expected order of words.

Onomatopoeia

Sound effect words (crack, boom, etc.)

Repetition

Reiterating word, phrase, statement, or stanza to achieve emphasis.

Parallel Repetition

genuinely i have no clue how this works, but here’s the definition from the poetry words document:

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Parallel Repetition
 Stating and restating an idea in different words, but in the same
structural arrangement
 Stating different ideas in the same structural arrangement

Allusion

A reference to a historical figure, place, event, other literature, the Bible (it can also be a reference to pop culture if the author is part of a younger generation).

Apostrophe

When the speaker addresses a dead/absent person, an abstract concept, or an non-living object (not to be confused with the grammatical apostrophe that’s used to show possession of an object).

Connotation

The hidden meaning of the usage of a word.

Denotation

The literal meaning of a word or phrase.

Diction

Word choice.

Hyperbole

Exaggerated, non-literal language.

Imagery

The use of language to appeal to the sense’s of the reader. Does not always have to be an “image”.

Irony

Refers to how a person’s situation isn’t what it actually seems to be. Often the opposite of what it appears to be.

Metaphor

Comparison between 2 things, but without the use of “like” or “as”.

Mood

The emotional/mental state of a poem, atmosphere.

Paradox

A statement that is self-contradicting. Provokes reader into seeking context in which this impossible statement could be true.

Personification

Giving human-like traits to an inanimate/non-human subject.

Poetic License

The poet’s privilege of doing whatever they want to make their verses fit a pattern.

Simile

Comparison between two things that use “like” or “as”.

Symbol

Anything that stands for something other than itself.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

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Grammarly example: The phrase “hired helping hands” is synecdoche because hands stand in for a worker’s body, and hands are a portion of the body.

Syntax

The way words and clauses are ordered.

Tone

The author/speaker/narrators attitude towards the reader.

Understatement

A form of speech in which a lesser expression is used than what
would be expected.

Fixed Verse

Clearly established, undeviating patterns of meter and rhyme.

Blank Verse

Poetry with meter, but not a defined rhyme scheme.

Free Verse

Poetry without a fixed meter or rhyme scheme.

Prose Poetry

Written as prose, but uses aspects of poetry.

Prose

The ordinary language people use in speaking or writing.